Prison Fellowship

This was unexpected: Overnight, I received an email from a prisoner who found a bit of inspiration in my Wall Street Journalarticle on O. Henry.

I know nothing about Charlie Norman except that he’s in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit. He also has a blog. Yes, I wondered the same thing: What the heck is an inmate doing with a blog? Does he also have an iPhone and get a cherry on top of his ice-cream sundaes?

This isn’t the first time I’ve received a note from a penitentiary. Every so often, one shows up at National Review. Apparently these guys have a lot of time to read.

Anyway, I’m interested in the fact that a 21st-century prisoner would be encouraged by the example O. Henry, who of course spent a few years of his own life locked up more than a century ago. I don’t want to offer any comment on Norman’s claim of innocence, but his post may be read here.